Please note: the sessions below may be marked as ‘full’ when you register but stand-by places are usually available – just stand outside the relevant room on the day to make use of the free spaces!

Hosted by award-winning science communicator, Dr Heather Reid, the action starts at 09.30 on Thursday 20th September in the Lomond Auditorium, and the programme is as follows:

09.30 – 10.15:‘Making Scotland a STEM Nation’

Hear the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Mr Richard Lochhead MSP, set out the Scottish Government’s vision for STEM and the ambitious plans in the national STEM Education and Training Strategy published last year.

You’ll also hear from three inspiring young people who’ll share their STEM experiences with you.

10.45 – 11.30: STEM Expo – Part One

Get STEM-inspired! Take part in our wide range of STEM demonstration sessions; hosted and delivered by children, young people, practitioners and experts from across Scotland. In a first for this festival, these sessions are packed full of practical ideas to inspire and motivate STEM learning across early years, primary, secondary and community learning settings.

How do we improve, increase and widen engagement with STEM – particularly once learners leave formal education? Join Professor Louise Archer from University College London to hear more about an exciting ‘science capital’ approach which is having a significant impact on young people’s understanding of and engagement with STEM.

13.15 – 14.00: STEM Expo – Part Two

If you enjoyed Part One, then be sure to come along to Part Two to take part in even more interactive demonstration sessions from another selection of inspirational children, young people, practitioners and experts from across Scotland.

14.30 – 15.15: ‘The Art of Science Communication’

Join Dr Jamie Gallagher – scientist, science communicator and salsa dance teacher – as he explores how to make STEM subjects memorable, exciting and accessible for all. Discover how fusing STEM with storytelling, art and dance can empower everyone – including even the most STEM-phobic learners and practitioners! – to connect with STEM in new and interesting ways.

15.15: Closing remarks

STEM Live! 2018 will be brought to a close by Gayle Gorman, the CEO of Education Scotland.

Click here to find out all you need to know about STEM Live! and the 2018 Scottish Learning Festival.

The closing date for applications to attend SSERC’s 2-part residential course for Probationer teachers is Friday November 25th. Through this programme, with practical work at its core, we focus on enhancing the range of activities which participants will be able to use to support Curriculum for Excellence in their classrooms. More than half of the practical elements of the course will be devoted to subjects outside participants’ own area of expertise. More details available from the SSERC website.

Stuart Naylor, one of the principal authors of Science Concept Cartoons Set 2, is due to deliver this ‘twilight’ professional development session. Aimed at learners in the age range 10-16, this new resource for Chemistry, Biology and Physics covers topics including earth and space, living things and their environments, physical and chemical changes.

Concept Cartoons are designed to introduce science concepts in everyday settings. Each character has a different opinion about science being discussed. All of the possible answers are plausible and highlight common learner misconceptions. Learners are invited to join in with the discussion happening in the science Concept Cartoon.

The book and CD of Science Concept Cartoons Set 2 both contain 156 Concept Cartoons covering the main areas of science. Background text, written in pupil-friendly language, is available for each Concept Cartoon. A blank speech bubble on each Science Concept Cartoon encourages learners to add additional ideas.

Fee: The fee for the course is £135 to include a copy of the book and CD of Science Concept Cartoons Set 2 as well as a site license meaning that all teachers can use the resource in their teaching. Light refreshments will be provided on arrival.

SSERC’s popular Primary Science & Technology Bulletin and SSERC Bulletin are available to download for all members from the SSERC website. All Local Authority school and college teachers and technicians are automatically members of SSERC. The majority of Independent schools are too.

If you’ve yet to register for membership or forgotten your login details contact STS@sserc.org.uk to create or reactivate your account.

As an enthusiastic professional, you will join a motivated team who provide an advisory service which supports science and technology education in Scottish schools. You will develop close working relationships with Local Authority officers and other key stakeholders in Scottish technology education.

You will have at least 5 years teaching experience in a wide range of technology subjects in the school education sector. You will have experience in supporting career long professional learning (CLPL) and an understanding of the CLPL needs for teachers, PTs, HOFs and school support staff.

Complementing your professional expertise, you will bring excellent team playing, communication and organisational skills, an interest in Health and Safety in an educational environment and a love of practical work. The ideal candidate must be confident with using software on both PC and Apple platforms and can demonstrate experience using CAD software packages e.g. CREO 2.0 or Autodesk Inventor. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who have a passion for both workshop machinery and programmable devices.

This is a full-time, high profile role based in Dunfermline. It will involve regular visits to locations throughout Scotland. There is plenty of scope for personal and professional development offered to the post holder.

This opportunity is suitable for STEM secondary/FE professionals with an interest in Higher / Advanced Higher (or equivalent) in biology.

Going on a placement at the University of Glasgow will help you to:

Inspire your students – increase your own understanding by attending lectures, seminars and laboratory sessions in life sciences, medicine, genetics, molecular and cell biology. Meet with students, researchers and lecturers working in Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at Glasgow and gain and insight into the breadth of curriculum content available to students entering this field.

Build strong links with a local university – connect with a local university to develop staff and student experiences, with the aim of creating a longer term partnership. Help to boost your students’ confidence in making degree and career choices. Find out more about the skills and competencies required for a science-based career and gain ideas for future collaboration (e.g. work experience, mentoring, speakers).

Enhance your advice on careers options– gain useful information about how to support students to make university applications through UCAS, and develop a wider knowledge of how to support students in making career decisions, taking into account future STEM industries.

University Information:

The University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) brings together internationally renowned experts and state-of-the-art facilities with the goal of improving health and the quality of life for humans and animals across the globe. As well as a huge research portfolio, the college provides innovative teaching, preparing students for a wide variety of exciting careers. Students can choose from a broad array of subjects (more than 20 degree programmes) in the life sciences, from A (Anatomy) to Z (zoology), or alternatively, the clinical subjects; medicine (including programmes in medicine, nursing and dentistry) and the veterinary medicine programmes.
The University of Glasgow has just over 19,000 undergraduate students coming from around the world and gaining a place to study is highly competitive. Arming school teachers with insight and knowledge about current teaching practices and approaches will give their pupils the best chance to secure a place at the University and prepare them for higher education. We aim to support this, by giving teachers of Higher level biology, a guided tour through teaching at all levels in the university and provide them with the additional information they need to support their pupils, particularly in view of the recent changes by the SQA in the Advanced Higher biology “curriculum for excellence”.

Outcomes

• provide inspirational experiences for teachers, which will in turn help them to inspire their students
• support the transition between National Qualifications and Higher Education, helping to highlight routes of study and future STEM related careers
• develop firmer links between school / college and university
• equip your school or college in response to the Government’s careers strategy

The National STEM Centre have just added six great film clips to the eLibrary, covering areas of the curriculum such as electricity generation, electromagnetism and the physics of car crashes.

The film clips in this collection were produced by Pumpkin Interactive, whose aim is to provide case studies of real life applications to illustrate some of the more complex scientific concepts and theories. Themes covered include: forces and motion, waves and imaging and electricity generation, transmission and distribution

Talk helps children to use scientific language effectively and develop their understanding of scientific ideas. Right across the curriculum, talk engages children, motivates them to use their speaking and listening skills and helps them learn how to respect and respond to each other. It reinforces the idea that mistakes can be opportunities for learning, leading children to find their own answers to problems. In science especially, exploratory talk helps children develop their enquiry and reasoning skills.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, in collaboration with Millgate House Education, have created a series of 5 videos all about ‘Talk for Science’. These videos highlight some of the different methods of supporting talk in science lessons. They cover:

Using sensory stimulus

Using stories

Using puppets

Using concept cartoons

Summary of talk for science

Through these videos we hope to inspire and support primary teachers in doing talk in their science lessons.

Pupil numbers: Pupils work in teams of four, competing against teams from other schools. Maximum 20 pupils (five teams) from each school at each Challenge Day.

Dates available:

National Museum of Rural Life (East Kilbride)

Wed 28, Thu 29 & Fri 30 Oct 2015

National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh)

Mon 9 & Tue 10 Nov 2015

Inspire your pupils to discover more about the renewable energy industry. Pupils will conduct experiments, meet industry experts and work cooperatively to solve problems. The day includes solar, wind, hydro and marine power challenges and each Challenge Day concludes with a keynote speaker from the industry. One team at each Challenge Day will win a prize for themselves and their school.

Pupils will discover more about renewable energy in Scotland through a series of hands-on, group-work activities. The day will provide an introduction to the range of renewable energies in Scotland, followed by the chance for pupils to build their own hydro turbine, and engineer a wave technology model.